Appliance for driving in nails



W m, 134., A, GRUIS 1,977,382

APPLIANCE FOR DRIVING IN NAILS Filed May 11, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J72 067250;": 7- mu:

' 3ZLWW @QL 16, 1934. A, U 5

APPLIANCE FOR DRIVING IN NAILS Filed May 11, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 16, 1934. A, RUI 1,977,382

APPLIANCE FOR DRIVING IN NAILS Filed May 11, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 H. arc/Q5 Patented Oct. 16, 1934 UNITED STATES APPLIANCE FORDRIVING IN NAILS Adolph Griiis, Berlin-Friedenau, Germany 1 Application May 11, 1932, Serial No. 610,69

In Germany December 17, 1930 i 6 Claims. (01. 146.1)

In the hitherto known appliances for driving in nails a blow is given with a hammer on a driver. The driver drives the nail into the article.

This appliance is awkward to operate and cannot be worked by everyone, as it requires a relatively great amount of skill.

Appliances for driving in nails are also known, which are operated with compressed air. In these arrangements compressed air is taken both for driving forward a piston and for feeding the nails from one source of compressed air, that is to say, the compressed air which hasdriven the piston forward escapes after performing this work into the atmosphere. For feeding a nail forward, 1 fresh compressed air is taken from the compressed air source independently of that required for driving forward the piston. Such arrangements therefore relatively costly to run.

& The invention also relates to a nail driving device driven by compressed air. It differs from the known arrangements in'that the air which drives thepiston forward is also utilized after driving the piston forward for feeding forward the j nails. In this way only a relatively small amount of compressed air is consumed so that the running costs of the device according to the invention are very low.

The invention is illustrated in the accompany- :ing drawings by-way of example,

Figure 1 is a side view of the device according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a section through the subject matter of Figure 1 on the line II--II, the upper part of the device being turned at an angle of 90,

Figure 3 is a section through the subject matter of Figure 1 on the line.IIIIII and a plan view of details of this figure viewed in the direction of the arrow A. I i

Fig. 4 is a section through the part shown in Fig. 3 on line IVIV.

Fig. 5 a side elevation of details viewed in the .The nail driving device according to them vention is operated with compressed air. According to the invention the compressed air for driving forward a piston when a nail is-being. driven in is utilized, after driving the said piston forward, the same air, is utilized for bringing a nail into the ready position under the piston,

so thatafter the re-admission of compressed air the piston can immediately drive the nail in.v

. For this purpose in acylinder 1 .a piston 2 is provided. The piston 2 can be moved by compressed air in the direction of the arrow 3. The compressed air is admitted through a valve 4 which can be opened by means of a 1ever5 and a pin 6. The nail .Whichis to be driven in passes automaticallyinto a passage? and'is driven into the article to be nailed by a driver 8 on the piston 2. In order. that the blow ofthe piston shall not act too severely on the cylinder a buffer 9 is providedin thelatter. The return of the piston into the position of restis effected by a spring 10.v

When thepiston is being driven down the, air under the piston escapes through openings 11 which-are surrounded by a perforated sleeve 12,

so that the expelled air cannot act directly on the person using the appliance The air above the piston, however, can escape while the piston is ascending through a hole which is provided at a suitable place in the cylinder or apart connected therewith. s

In ,a'jpreferred constructional form, one or more bores 1a are. provided on the cylinder 1 for the. escape of the air when the piston 2 ascends. When'the device is not. operated, that is to say when'no compressed air is admitted,

the said bores are open but as soon as the lever,

5. is depressed for admitting the compressed air the pin 6 is moved upwardly and lifts the valve 4. However, when pressing the lever 5 against the cylinder 1 the lower mouths of the bores 1a are simultaneously closed by a surface 5a. Consequently, when the leveris depressed the compressed air admitted through the va1ve 4 cannot escape but must move the piston downward.

AS soon as the lever 5 is released, the bores 1a are again opened and .the v'alve4 is closed at the same time. The air'which has pressed down the piston may now escapethrough the bores 1a. While it is being driven the nail is guided by yielding guiding jaws 13. 14 is a spring which seeks to press, these jaws together. 15 is a guiding member with finger holes 16, by which the device is guided on the article into which the nails are being. driven. This guiding member will be more particularly describedbelow.

In order that ateach downward stroke of the piston 2 there shall be a nail to be driven by the pin 8, thefollowing arrangement is provided:

Forming an extension of a removable feeding raceway .17, Fig. '1, in which the nails are sus- "a to purpose there is provided in the part 19 a slot -19 through which engages the spring secured to the 'thenailin'g device to the position of the work piece, that is to say in order to be able to nail pended by their heads and slide downwards, is a channel 18 Figs. 3 and 4, at the end of'which is a part 19. In this raceway the nails are suspended as indicated in Fig. 4. For conveying the nails singly into the passage 7 Figs. 3 and 4 a sliding part 20 is provided which can be moved in the direction of the arrow 21 and in the reverse direction. At each movement in'the direction of the arrow 21 a nail is forced against the inturned end of a spring 22 and moved in the direction indicated by the small arrow. For this part 19 (Figs. 6 and 6a). If the lowest nail in the channel 18 is moved by the sliding member 20 in the direction of the arrow 21 the spring 22 will be pushed back in the direction of the arrow 21. In Figure 6 the spring 22 is shown in that position in which it releases the-nail advanced by the slidingmember 20. After the nail is released and passes to the channel 23 and the slide returns to normal position, the spring 22 returns to the position shown inrFig. 3 wherein it retains the lowest nail until the latter is moved by the sliding member 20 in the direction of the arrow 21 whereby the spring springs back again and the above described operation is repeated. In this connection it is to be noted that the channel 18 is limited below by the part 19. The sliding part 20 moves on the part 19." By means of this sliding part 20 the nail suspended in the channel 18 can be moved along the part 19 into the passage 23. The spring 22 is provided so .that the'nails do not slide automatically into ing part 20 toward the passage 23, the downwardly bent part of the spring 22 will be forced away in the direction of the arrow 21 and the nail can pass into the passage 23. As soon as the sliding part 20 has returned opposite to the direction of the arrow'21, the spring 22 again ob structs the entrance to the passage 23an'd the nails contained in the channel 18 can slide downward so that a nail again lies in front of the sliding part 20 and can be moved into the passage 23 when the sliding part 20 is again shifted in the direction of the arrow'21. The nail as it is forced out of the passage 18 falls into a lateral passage 23 in whichit slides downwards into the passage 7 (see Fig. 4).. If

,. disturbances should occur, a member 23 which contains the passages 18 and 23' is rockably mounted at 23 (see Figs. 4-. and 1) so thatitis adapted to rock in the direction of the arrow B (Figure 1). The member 23' is thereby moved out of the device so that the passage '7 is entirely free. As soon as a disturbance in the pas sage '7 is eliminated, the member 23 is again rocked into the device in the reverse direction of the arrow B and is secured in this rocked position by means such as a binding screw (not shown).

der 24 with a controlling piston 25 is provided. "The latter on emerging from. the cylinder 24 rocks a bell crank 26 which displaces the sliding member 20 in the direction of the arrow 21. Mo-' tion is imparted to the controlling piston by com-" pressed air. For this purpose the cylinder 24 is connected to the cylinder 1 by a passage 24.1."

On the piston 2 descending in the cylinder 1 it passes over the orifice of this connecting passage, so. that the compressed air can enter the connecting passage and the cylinder 24. The piston 25 is pushed out, the bell crank 26 rocked, the sliding member 20 displaced in the direction of the arrow 21 and a nail is thereby thrown into the passage23. On the piston 2 ascendin again and the passage 24a leading to the cylinder 24 being uncovered, the compressed air can H escape and the said parts return under the action of 'a spring 27 into the position shown in Fig. 3.

In order to be able to adapt the position of all four edges of a lid of a box to the latter without the attendant removing his hand from thelever 5 during the quick release of the lever 5 for the escape of the compressed air, the lower part of the device is pivotally mounted on the cylinder 1. For this purpose, the sleeve 12, which is integral with the part holding the guiding member 15, is provided on its upper end with a screwthread 12a. There is screwed on this screw thread 12 a holding member 12b which is designed similar to a screwed cap and moreover holds the cylinder 24. The position of the holding member 12b on the cylinder 1 is ensured by a'flan'ge 12c and a collar 12) on the cylinder 1. These members prevent the sleeve 12 from sliding down the cylinder 1. The external diameter of the collar 12) and the internal diameter of the sleeve 12b are such that the holding member 12b and with it the sleeve 12 are adapted to 1'0- tate on the cylinder. 1

Thereare preferably provided in the collar 11) four notches 10 wherein aspring-loaded ball may partially enter. Consequently, owing to the notches 1c and the spring-loaded ball' the lower rotatable part of the device is secured in a certain degree in four positions corresponding to the four sides of a box. It is obvious that the rotatable part can be readily moved out with the hand gripping the guiding member 15 so that itc'an be adjusted at any time to the position of the four sides "of a box.

As already stated above, the sleeve 12 forms a protection for the operator against the compressed air passing out of the openings 11. For this purpose the holes 12d of the sleeve 12 are opposite the holes 11 in the cylinder 1 and there is provided between the sleeve 12 and the cylinder 1 an intermediate space wherein the pressure of the air which passes out of the cylinder is reduced.

The construction and action of the guide 15 referred to above will be seen from Figs. 7 to 9.

In order that the person using the device shall immediately become aware of the fact, when th'e'n'ail driving device is in a wrong position with respect to the wall 33, for instance of a packing case, a guide 34 is provided at a considerable distance from the lower edge of the guidingjaw 13, with which the nail driving device rests on the article into which the nails are to be drivenf The' said guide on the nail driving device rests against the outersurface of the wall 33. When the nail driving device is held inclined, for instance in the direction of the line and moves the sliding member 20.

Should the nail driving device, however, be held in the direction of'the' line 39, the point 36 will also be incorrectly positioned for driving the nail. In this case as in the former the person using the device will immediately notice that the device is in the wrong position.

The guide 34 is preferably made curved and has a recess 40 into which projecting parts of the article, for instance the projecting edges of the lid to be nailed on, can enter. Such an edge projecting over the vertical wall is indicated in Fig. 9 at 41 by broken lines. If the recess were not provided it might happen that in the case of the projecting edge of the lid the driven nail does not enter the wall 33 but is driven outside of this wall through the lid. In addition itis to be noted thatthe upper part of the edge or recess forms an abutment for'cooperating with the outer partof the guide for facilitating the proper guiding of the driven nails.

The operation of the deviceaccording'to the invention is briefly as follows:

It is assumed that a nail is in the passage '7. If a lid is to be nailed to a box, the device according to the invention is placed against the box or the lid in the manner indicated in Fig. 7 so that the guiding jaws 13 lie overthe side wall 33 of the box. The device is gripped with one hand in the finger holes 16 and with the other hand on the upper end of the cylinder 1 so that the lever 5 for the admission and escape of the compressed air can be operated with one or two fingers of the upper hand. If the nail in the passage is to be driven into the box lid and the wall 33 Figure 2 below same, the lever 5 is pressed against the cylinder 1. The pin 6 is thereby moved upwardly and lifts the valve 4. However, the bores 1a are simultaneously closed by the surface 5a on the lever 5 so that the compressed air which is admitted after the valve 4 is lifted cannot escape externally but acts on the piston 2. The piston 2 is now moved downward and with its driver 8 it drives in the nail which is contained in the passage 7. As soon as the upper edge of the piston 2 has passed over the opening 241), a part of the compressed air in the cylinder 1 passes through the passage 24a into the small cylinder 24 Figure 3 and forces out the piston 25. The lever 26 is thereby rocked The sliding member 20 forces the lowest nail out of the gutter 18 into the passage 23 Figures 3 and 4 whereupon the spring 22 is forced back.

The nail conveyed in the passage 23 drops into the passage 7 by g v The operator has meanwhile released the lever 5 which has moved under the action of a spring (not shown) into the position shown in Figure 2. By this movement of the lever 5, the

valve 4 is again closed. However, the bores 1a have been opened by the surface 5a of the lever 5 at the same time so that air over the piston can escape and the spring 10 can move the piston 12 into its uppermost position. The above described operation is repeated when driving in each subsequent nail.

If the nails are driven in on one side of the box lid and if nails are also to be driven in on the other side of the box lid, the lower part of the nailing device, to which inter alia the sleeve 12, the cylinder 24, the guiding jaws 13 and the guiding member 15 belong, is rotated at an angle of by means of the finger holes 16. The upper hand engaging with the cylinder and operating the lever 5 need not'be released which constitutes a great advantage for the quick workingofthedevice. T

In connection with the foregoing it is to be noted that the guiding member or nose piece 15 is rigidly secured to the part 12. However, the latter can rotate on the lower part of the cylinder 1 sothat the piece 15 can also rotate therewith. What I claim is:

1. An appliance for drivinglnails by means of compressed air comprising in combination a cylinder, a, piston in said cylinder, a nail feedraceway'on'the cylinder, said feed raceway being adapted to slidably hold the nails by their heads, a'channel for guiding and receiving the nail to be driven forming a continuation of the feed raceway and leading below the cylinder, a small cyl inder arranged transversely on the piston and means connected with said small piston for separating a nail from the raceway for positioning below the' piston cylinder. v i 2. 'An appliance for driving nails by means of compressed air'coinprising' in combination a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a nail feed raceway on the cylinder, said feed raceway being adapted to slidably hold'the nails by their heads, a channel for guiding and receiving thenail to be driven forming a continuation of the feed raceway and leading below the piston cylinder, a small cylinder arranged transversely on the'piston cylinder'and-havin g a small piston, a bell crank lever arranged on the free end of the small piston, a spring acting on the bell crank lever, a slide connected to the bell crank lever for separating a nail from the raceway for positioning below the piston cylinder.

3. An appliance for driving nails by means of compressed air comprising in combination a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a nail feed raceway on the piston cylinder, said feed raceway being adapted to slidably hold the nails by their heads, a channel for guiding and receiving the nail to be driven forming a continuation of the feed raceway and leading'below the piston cylinder, a small cylinder arranged transversely on the piston cylinder and having a small piston, a bell crank lever arranged on the free end of the small piston, a spring acting on the bell crank lever, a slide connected to the said bell crank lever for separating a nail from the raceway for positioning below the piston cylinder, a rotatable sleeve on the lower end of the piston cylinder, a guide on the sleeve, said guide having a recess adapted to receive a piece of work, the upper edge of the recess constituting an abutment cooperating with the outer part of the guide for facilitating the proper guiding of the driven nails, and finger holes in the guide.

4. An appliance for driving nails by means of compressed air comprising in combination a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a nail feed raceway on the piston cylinder, said feed raceway being adapted to slidably hold the nails by their heads, a channel for guiding and receiving the nail to be driven forming a continuation of the feed raceway and leading below the piston cylinder, a small cylinder arranged transversely on the piston cylinder and having a small piston, a bell crank lever arranged on the free end of the small piston, a spring acting on the bell crank lever, a slide connected to the said bell crank lever for separating a nail from the raceway for positioning below the piston cylinder, a rotatable sleeve on the lower end of the piston cylinder, a guide on the said sleeve, an abutment on the guide,

finger holes in the guide, the rotatable sleeve being simultaneously a carrier for the nail feed raceway and the small cylinder.

5. An appliance for driving nails by means of compressed air comprising in combination a cylinder, a piston in-said cylinder, a nail feed raceway on the piston cylinder, said feed raceway being adapted to slidably hold the nails by their heads, a channel for guiding and receiving the nail to be driven forming a continuation of the feed raceway and leading below the piston cylinder, a small cylinder arranged transversely on the piston cylinder and having a small piston, a bell crank lever arranged on the free end of the small piston, a spring acting on the small piston, a slide connected to the said bell crank lever for separating a nail from the raceway for positioning below the piston cylinder, a valve for admitting compressed air at the upper end of the piston cylinder and a lever on the piston cylinder acting on the said compressed air inlet valve, a rotatable sleeve on the lower end of the piston cylinder, a guide on the sleeve, an abutment on the guide, finger holes in the guide, the rotatable sleeve having air outlets and being simultaneously a carrier for the nail feed raceway and the small cylinder.

6. An appliance for driving nails by means of compressed air comprising in combination a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a nail feed raceway on the piston cylinder, said feed raceway be ing adapted to slidably hold the nails by their heads, a channel for guiding and receiving the nail to be driven forming, a continuation of the feed raceway and leading below the piston cylinder, a small cylinder arranged transversely on the piston cylinder and having a small piston, a bell crank lever arranged on the free end of thesmall piston a spring acting on the small piston, a slide connected to the said bell crank lever for separating anail from the raceway for positioning belowthe piston cylinder, a valve for admitting compressed air at the upper end of the piston cylinder, a lever acting by means of a pin on the said compressed air inlet valve, bores near the lever forthe escape of the compressed air when'the first piston ascends and a surface on said leverfor closing the bores on pressure being exerted on the lever and the consequent opening of the compressed air inlet valve, a rotatable sleeve on the lower end of the piston cylinder, a guide on the sleeve, said guide having a recess adapted to receivethe projecting edge of a box lid being nailed, the upper edge of the recess constituting anabutment cooperating with the outer part of a guide for facilitating the proper guiding of the driven nails, finger holes in the guide, the rotatable sleeve having air outlets and being simultaneously a carrier for the nail feed raceway and the small cylinder.

ADOLF GRUIS. 

